Cash-Only Pizza by the Slice in Pelham Bay: Louie & Ernie's

Louie & Ernie's, at 1300 Crosby Avenue in Pelham Bay, is the Bronx pizzeria people describe as a hole in the wall and then cross the borough to visit anyway. It sells pizza by the slice from a small counter in a residential block, the menu fits on a single price list, and the slices are thin, round and New York in the plainest sense. Bring cash, because the shop takes nothing else and does not deliver.

The shop's own history page traces the business to 1947, when the Ottuso family opened their first pizza shop in Harlem. Food Republic, which named Louie & Ernie's the best hole-in-the-wall restaurant in New York in 2025, credits brothers Louie and Ernie Ottuso as the founders, which is where the name on the sign comes from. In 1959 the family moved the business north to the Pelham Bay neighborhood of the Bronx, where it has stayed ever since.

The second chapter began in the mid 1980s, when brothers John and Cosimo Tiso joined the kitchen as teenagers. According to the shop, the brothers bought Louie & Ernie's in 1987, roughly forty years after the first Harlem counter opened. The Tiso family has kept the place close to how they found it: a short counter, a few tables, a backyard patio, and a habit among regulars of eating slices standing on the sidewalk or propped against the hood of a parked car.

Start with the plain slice at $4.25, which is the benchmark every Bronx pizza argument comes back to. The crust is thin and crisp underneath with a soft, foldable edge, and the tomato sauce stays bright rather than sweet. The square Sicilian slice costs the same $4.25 and is the better pick if you want a thicker, airier bite with a browned bottom. A slice with one topping runs $6.00 on the house price list.

The white slice is the one regulars talk about most. At $6.25 it skips the red sauce, so the cheese carries the slice and it eats richer than the plain. The fresh tomato and mozzarella slice and the Margherita slice are both $6.25 as well, and either makes a good second slice after a plain. Ordering two different slices is the easiest way to see what the kitchen does best.

If you are feeding a group, whole pies are the smarter buy. The menu lists a small cheese pie at $20.00 and a large at $22.00, and notes that a small pie is cut into six slices and a large into eight. That makes the large the better value per slice, and it travels home well. A large box also fits neatly on a car hood, which is exactly where plenty of regulars end up eating it.

The price list carries a short note that settles most questions: cash only and no delivery. Walk-in orders are paid in bills at the register, so stop at an ATM before you arrive in Pelham Bay. The homepage says the shop offers indoor dining, outdoor patio seating and takeout, and indoor seating is first come, first served. There are only a handful of tables inside, so a party of four or more should expect to split up or eat outside.

Time Out has described the real magic happening out front on car hoods or in the backyard patio, and that is a fair picture of a busy weekend afternoon. The patio is open daily from 11:00 am to 8:30 pm, weather permitting, and it is the most comfortable place to sit with a pie between friends. Grab extra napkins at the counter, since the white slice in particular can drip.

Louie & Ernie's opens at 11:00 am and closes at 8:30 pm every day of the week, Monday through Sunday, according to its website. That is earlier than many Manhattan slice shops, so a late-night plan will not work here. Several older listings still show a later closing time, but the official site is the one to trust. Arrive well before closing if you want a fresh pie rather than whatever slices are left in the case.

Weekend lunch is the busiest stretch, when families from the surrounding blocks pick up pies and visitors who read about the shop arrive by subway. A weekday lunch around noon is calmer and gives you a better chance at an indoor table. Early evening on a weeknight is also relaxed, and the light on the patio is pleasant before the shop closes for the night.

Crosby Avenue is the main shopping street of Pelham Bay, lined with small family businesses, and the blocks around it are mostly two-story brick homes. After a slice, walk north along the avenue toward Middletown Road to see how the street changes from storefronts to brick row houses. The Pelham Bay branch of the New York Public Library sits nearby and is a quiet place to rest on a hot day.

For a longer outing, Pelham Bay Park is the largest park in New York City and starts just east of the neighborhood. Its trails, salt marshes and the long beach at Orchard Beach make a good afternoon after lunch. Smaller Bufano Park is closer to the shop and works for a quick sit-down with a pie box on your lap. Either way, the pizza is the reason to make the trip, and the green space is a bonus.

Address: 1300 Crosby Avenue, Bronx, NY 10461, in Pelham Bay. Hours: Monday to Sunday, 11:00 am to 8:30 pm. Payment: cash only, and there is no delivery. Seating: a few indoor tables on a first come, first served basis, plus a backyard patio open in good weather. Prices from the official menu: plain slice $4.25, Sicilian slice $4.25, white slice $6.25, small cheese pie $20.00, large cheese pie $22.00.

Getting there: take the 6 train to Middletown Road, the closest stop, then walk about ten minutes southeast to Crosby Avenue. Buhre Avenue on the same line is a similar distance. From Midtown Manhattan the subway ride takes roughly 50 minutes, so plan the trip around lunch rather than a quick detour. Driving is easier on weekdays, when street parking on the side blocks is less crowded than on weekends.